IBM to acquire online storage provider
Dec. 7 – IBM will acquire Arsenal Digital Solutions, an online data storage services and data protection services company. 

Arsenal Digital of Cary, N.C., and its 100 employees will become part of IBM Global Technology Services, IBM's largest business unit headquartered in Raleigh, N.C. IBM said that the acquisition will not result in any layoffs.

Arsenal Digital serves approximately 3,400 customers in small and midsize businesses that want data protection and online access in response to regulatory requirements and data growth. Previously, IBM had partnered with Arsenal for several years on specific orders.

Other storage competitors, such as EMC, have recently made such acquisitions of online storage providers. IBM's move adds an online option for customers who tell IBM their data is growing at 40 to 50 percent per year, said Mike Riegel, IBM's vice president of information protection services.

“We've been talking to Arsenal about a partnership since the beginning of the year,” Riegel said. “And the more time we spent with their team and their employees, we realized we had a very common, shared vision about the very important role that data protection plays with our clients. Rather than a partnership, we made a decision that the best path was really for them to be acquired by IBM.”

Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed, and the acquisition is expected to close in the first quarter of 2008.
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